Compensatory Damages Include Things such as Lost Wages, Property Damages, and Lawyer Fees

Feb 22

The classification of people who may be found entering another person’s property include an invitee, a licensee and a trespasser. Besides suggesting the rights of a person (inside an entered premise), this classification also tells of the level of care a property owner owes these people.

An invitee may be a friend, a relative or a neighbor. He/She who has a landowner’s expressed or implied permission to enter his/her property;

A licensee is a person, who also has a landowner’s expressed or implied permission to enter the property, but who goes there for his/her own amusement or purpose, rather than for business purposes. Party guests, family friends and everyone else who enter stores to ask about something or to retrieve something that they own, are also considered as licensees;

A trespasser ris a person who has no authority to be on someone else’s property; thus he/she is on the property illegally and, unless he/she is a child, the owner owes him/her no responsibility if ever he/she gets injured inside such property.

Property owners, especially those who own places open to the public, like malls, supermarkets, hospitals, government offices, parking lots, playgrounds, swimming pools, restaurants, food courts, churches, etc. (where the people are called licensees), have the responsibility of keeping their premises free from risks of accident at all times, or they can face legal complaints, more specifically, a premises liability lawsuit, from whoever gets injured in their premise.

One very common accident which can injure anyone is slip and fall. This accident, which occurs in public and private places cause injuries ranging from minor bruises to fractures or spinal column injury, neck injury and so forth.

According to the National Safety Council (NSC), more than 8 million slip and fall accidents occur in the U.S. every year. Their most common causes include wet, oily, icy or slippery floors or surfaces, defective staircases, uneven, loose or broken floors, steps, sidewalks or stairs, unsecured rugs or carpets, and, hidden or tangled extension wires.

Besides injury due to slipping, tripping or falling, premises liability also includes in its scope injuries that are caused by falling objects, open excavations, electrocution, broken benches or chairs, and so forth.

Failure to free one’s premise of injurious hazards is act of negligence. If this act result to harm, then an injured victim can pursue legal action in order to seek compensatory damages. The Ali Mokaram law firm says, “compensatory damages are designed to help the plaintiff to pay for the costs of recovering after the injury. These damages often include things such as lost wages, property damages, and lawyer fees.”